Atmospheric monitoring and inter-calibration of the telescope optical throughput efficiencies using the trigger rates of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

Abstract We discuss a calibration method for imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays, based on the detection of cosmic rays. The focus lies on the monitoring of transmission of Cherenkov light in the atmosphere and on the relative calibration of telescope optical throughput efficiencies. We present an approach that addresses both issues by surveying and comparing trigger rates of telescopes in a stereoscopic configuration. A Monte Carlo feasibility study was conducted to explore dependencies of stereo trigger rates on the array layout and observing conditions of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Analytical expressions for most of these dependencies have been found and implemented in an extension of the method of the Cherenkov Transparency Coefficient (CTC). In the investigated examples, the resolution of the method for the atmospheric and array calibration has been shown to be 4% and 4–7%, respectively.